This could be good news for the Pistons. Mike Ilitch was one of the people rumored to be interested in buying the Pistons. Now he has formally made an offer.

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Mike Ilitch, the owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, says he wants to buy the NBA's Detroit Pistons in part to make sure the team doesn't leave town. Ilitch said he has notified the Pistons of his interest. He said he fears the Detroit area could lose the Pistons if an out-of-town buyer comes forward. "When I read in the paper there was the chance that this great sports town could lose one of its professional sports franchises, I just didn't see how we could let that happen," Ilitch said. ESPN.com

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Mike Ilitch said in a statement today that he hopes to purchase the Detroit Pistons. The Ilitch family already owns the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings. "Today, we formally notified the Detroit Pistons that we have interest in purchasing the team," he said. "This is a required first-step and we look forward to the opportunity to move forward in the process." Booth Newspapers

"We talked about it internally and when you take our 33 years of experience in professional sports, our commitment to this community, our passion for winning and pursuing championships, and you couple that with the opportunity to have a local, engaged owner for the Pistons, we decided to take a run at it. We believe we could bring a lot to the table that could be tremendously positive for the Pistons franchise, the NBA, and the fans of this community. So, today, we formally notified the Detroit Pistons that we have interest in purchasing the team. This is a required first-step and we look forward to the opportunity to move forward in the process." Booth Newspapers

We know that he does a good job with the Tigers and the Red Wings. He is a guy who puts together winning clubs. It's not like some of the owners out there who never have winning teams. Plus to keep the business in the hands of a Detroit guy would be nice too. I am all for him buying the Pistons.

I'm down I guess, thoguh having all 3 seems like quite a burden. Hope it would work out ok. I'd rather see them stay at the Palace, that's for sure. Detroit has 2 big stadiums already and might keep the Wings(hopefully they join the Palace via renovations). Nobody wants to drive down there, as the traffic is awful in the congested area where the stadiums are. The Palace is out by itself, with its own parking. Its a great stadium and more fans live in Oakland County and Macomb than Wayne now. Lions and Tigers work well where they are, I'm not dissing detroit. I just think Wings and Pistons should have their own spot, as to not isolate everything all together

You bring up a good point with the stadiums. I agree the Palace is in a much better spot. With Ilitch owning everything though, it does give him the ability to put two teams into one venue which could potentially save him some money and make his businesses more profitable.

What people need to understand (fans, radio callers, et cetera…) is that the Palace is part of the deal in buying the Pistons. We are one of the few teams that own our own building - FREE AND CLEAR. most other franchises have to have votes and such and receive funding from taxes, city grants, loans, et cetera… just to build a building. Mr. Davidson built the Palace out of his own pocket, and promptly paid off his debt.
Ilitch would be an idiot to buy the Pistons, a transaction which would include the Palace, and not use it. Horrible business decision it would be and the taxpayers and voters would pretty upset to have to pay for a new arena when he would already own a world class building, free and clear…

What would be a more likely scenario would be he move the Red Wings into the Palace. There has been talk the past few years of the Red Wings having a new arena, and the dilemma has been where is the money going to come from? A purchase of the Pistons would be a fast seamless way to an arena…

Great post Sonic R. I think that would make the most business sense too. Think of it like having your car paid off or your house paid off. There's not too much that makes you more secure financially than that. I could actually see more people going to Redwings games if they were at that Palace too. It's easier to get to for a lot of people. At the end of the day, he would do what he thought would make them the most profit.

What people need to understand (fans, radio callers, et cetera…) is that the Palace is part of the deal in buying the Pistons. We are one of the few teams that own our own building - FREE AND CLEAR. most other franchises have to have votes and such and receive funding from taxes, city grants, loans, et cetera… just to build a building. Mr. Davidson built the Palace out of his own pocket, and promptly paid off his debt.
Ilitch would be an idiot to buy the Pistons, a transaction which would include the Palace, and not use it. Horrible business decision it would be and the taxpayers and voters would pretty upset to have to pay for a new arena when he would already own a world class building, free and clear…

What would be a more likely scenario would be he move the Red Wings into the Palace. There has been talk the past few years of the Red Wings having a new arena, and the dilemma has been where is the money going to come from? A purchase of the Pistons would be a fast seamless way to an arena…

That's what I'm saying. Its not like anyone in the actual city of Detroit is into hockey anyways